The invention relates to a vehicle body structure such as a roof with a roof aperture surrounded by a frame, the latter defining, at least in the zone of the front edge and the lateral edges of the roof aperture, a gutter having a U-shaped cross section, wherein the roof aperture can be closed by a sliding top displaceable via sliding blocks in guide tracks extending along the lateral edges of the roof aperture, these guide tracks each being formed on a vertical wall defining a side of the gutter located nearest the roof aperture and having the shape of an inverted "U" ( ) in cross section and further being formed from a cover attached by screws to the topside of the vertical wall.
For reasons of saving weight, the frame is constructed to be as lightweight as possible, i.e. either from a thin steel sheet or also from a light metal such as aluminum. In this connection, problems are encountered with regard to the mounting of the cover at the vertical wall delimiting the gutter, since the holes for the mounting screws of the cover are occasionally torn out (stripped) as early as during the first assembly, but more frequently during repeated installation and disassembly, resulting in expensive remachining.
The invention thus has an object of avoiding these difficulties and attaining a secure mounting of the cover.
To attain this object, it is proposed acording to and embodiment of the invention to arrange, in the cavity of the vertical wall, a mounting strip provided with screw holes for the screws serving to attach the cover.
By means of this embodiment according to the invention, a secure fastening of the mounting screws is obtained, so that even a repeated disassembly and assembly of the cover does not entail any problems.
In a vehicle roof wherein the gutter is also defined along the front edge of the roof aperture toward the roof aperture by a vertical wall having a -shaped cross section, a cover being attached by screws to the topside of this wall, the preferred embodiment of the invention provides a mounting strip with screw holes for the screws serving to attach the forward cover also in the cavity of this forward, vertical wall. This forward cover serves, for example, for covering a channel wherein pressure-resistant cables are guided for the displacement of the sliding top.
Recently, rigid headliners have been utilized as the interior lining of vehicle roofs; these headliners normally consist of a synthetic resin and are snapped into corresponding mounting devices on the inside of the vehicle roof. The use of such rigid headliners in a vehicle roof with a roof aperture which can be closed by a sliding top has presented certain difficulties with respect to the mounting of the headliner along the edges of the roof aperture. In one suggestion disclosed by German Utility Model No. 7,709,851, the edges of the headliner defining the roof cutout are pulled upward so that they extend over the edges of the frame. To attain a secure mounting of the headliner in this arrangement, only very narrow tolerances can be permitted, but even then, due to the varying thermal expansion coefficients of the metallic roof frame and the headliner made of a synthetic resin, a safe mounting is not always ensured. Screwing or clipping the headliner to the frame has met with difficulties, since, on the one hand, the penetration of a gutter wall is to be avoided while, on the other hand, there is hardly any room for the accommodation of mounting elements. In accordance with a further aspect of the preferred embodiment, a secure attachment of the headliner can be attained by providing, in the mounting strips, additional openings for the accommodation of fastening elements for the headliner.
The mounting strips are held in place by the mounting screws of the cover. To facilitate assembly, the mounting strips can additionally be attached to the frame by means of plastic rivets.
The mounting strips are preferably made of a synthetic resin.